NO. 8 OPINIONS 124 TO 133 29 



OPINION 128 



Nycleril>la, 1796, Pui'ii-ara, and Spiiiluniix, 1826, acakim-; 



Summary. — Under Suspension of the Rules Nyctcribia Latreille, 1796, with 

 pcdicularia Latreille, 1805, as type, and Spiiihiriiix von Heyden, 1826, with 

 myofi Kolenati, 1856, as type, are hereby placed in the Official List of Generic 

 Names. 



The specific name icspcrtilioiiis of all authors is hereby invalidated for the 

 following generic names: Acarus, Acrocholidia, Cclcripcs, Jhviiiaiiyssus, J^ip- 

 lostaspis, Gamasus, Hippohosca, Ichoronyssus, Liponyssus, Lislropoda, Mcgis- 

 fopoda, Nyctcribia, Fcdiculus, Pcnicillidia, Pcriglischrus, Phlhiridiiini, Ptcroptus, 

 Sarcoptes, Spintnrnix, Strcbla, on the ground that the application of the Rules 

 would produce greater confusion than uniformity. 



Presentation of case. — Prof. J. M. Aldrich, United States Na- 

 tional Museum, has submitted the following case for consideration : 



Latreille proposed the genus Nyctcribia in " Precis dcs caractcres gencriqucs 

 des Insectes ", 1796, p. 176, mentioning only Pcdiculus vcspcrtilionis Linn. In 

 his " Histoire naturelle des Crustaces et des Insectes", vol. 14, p. 403, 1805, ho 

 again briefly describes the genus, and gives a partial description of Nyctcribia 

 pcdicularia, new species, which he figures on pi. 112, fig. 14. He places Pcdiciihis 

 vcspcrtilionis L. under pcdicularia, apparently as a synonym. 



Now it is a fact mentioned by Speiscr, " Ueber die Nycteribiiden ", Kcuiigsberg, 

 1901, p. 2, that Pcdiculus z-cspcrlilioiiis L., 1758, is an acarid, and not a nycteribiid 

 in the usual sense of the term. 



Latreille in 1796 evidently did not know what vcspcrtilionis L. was, since his 

 reference to long tarsi indicates a nycteribiid in the usual sense. His second 

 reference, however, is accompanied by a figure which makes the intention clear. 



Up to the present time Nyctcribia has universally been accepted as a genus of 

 Diptera, suborder Pupipara, and there has been no attempt within a hundred 

 years, as far as I know, to " correct " the nomenclature by transferring the genus 

 to the Acarini. Hence no confusion will arise if the Commission of Nomencla- 

 ture shall decide upon a Suspension of the Rules in this case, and shall designate 

 vcspcrtilionis Latr. 1796 (non Linn.; pcdicularia Latr. 1803) as type of 

 Nyctcribia. I request that this be done. 



Discussion. — This is probably the most confused case of nomen- 

 clature which has ever been submitted to the Commission for study 

 and Opinion, and as such it calls for radical action in order to prevent 

 further confusion. 



At the re([ucst of the Secretary and under his personal supervision 

 this case has been very carefully studied by one of his assistants, Hen- 

 jamin J. Collins, M. S., who has summarized the results of his study 

 in Bulletin 155, National Institute of Health, United States Public 



